The field of the disclosure relates generally to components that include internal cooling conduits, and more particularly to components that include an array of separable plugs on an outer wall to facilitate modulated film cooling.
Some components, such as hot gas path components of gas turbines, are subjected to high temperatures. At least some such components have internal cooling conduits defined therein, such as but not limited to a network of plenums and passages, that circulate a cooling fluid internally, for example, along an interior surface of the outer wall of the component. In addition, at least some such components include a thermal bond coat on an exterior surface of the outer wall. The thermal bond coat and cooling fluid each facilitate maintaining the outer wall below a threshold temperature during operation. In at least some cases, local regions of the thermal bond coat can be become spalled or otherwise damaged over an operating lifetime of the component, and an increased flow rate of the cooling fluid is selected to compensate for the potential loss of protection from the thermal bond coat in spalled regions. However, for at least some components, the increased cooling fluid flow must be provided to the entire component, rather than just the spalled regions, resulting in unnecessary overcooling of unspalled regions and decreased operating efficiency.